Abstract:
Colletotrichum is an important fungal genus
with great diversity, which causes anthracnose of a variety
of crop plants including rubber trees. Colletotrichum
acutatum and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides have been
identified as the major causative agents of Colletotrichum
leaf disease of rubber trees in Sri Lanka based on morphology,
pathogenicity, and the analysis of internally transcribed
spacer sequences of the nuclear ribosomal DNA.
This study has been conducted to investigate the members
of the C. acutatum species complex causing rubber leaf
disease using a morphological and multi gene approach.
For the first time in Sri Lanka, Colletotrichum simmondsii,
Colletotrichum laticiphilum, Colletotrichum nymphaeae,
and Colletotrichum citri have been identified as causative
agents of Colletotrichum leaf disease in addition to C. acutatum
s. str. Among them, C. simmondsii has been recognized
as the major causative agent.
